Happiness
by Winterlude
Summary: The birth of Teddy and Victoire's first child, from Teddy POV. One-shot, R&R!


_A big thank you to Gaby-Black, who edited this._

* * *

You wake up and look around. It's still dark, but there's a light in the corridor. Your hand reaches to touch Victoire, but she is not there. You are confused. Where is she? You slowly get up and look out of the window: it's dawn.

'Victoire,' you weakly say, and very vaguely you think of what Harry once told you, of how much people were scared during the War, and you think of your parents, and you are suddenly very frightened and you don't know why.

And then she comes in, and she has a strange expression on her face and you can't understand what's going on.

'Teddy, we have to go,' she says, and at first you don't understand (to go where? you wonder) and then you remember that she is pregnant, that she is nine months pregnant, and you jump.

'Of course,' you quickly say as you grab the bag that she has in her hand. 'I'll do everything.'

She laughs, and you can see that she is scared and that she is in pain, and you wish there was something you could do; you'd do anything to make her feel better but you know that you can't do anything and you are saddened by that. And then, a sudden thought hits you.

'How do we get there?' you ask, confused.

'We'll Apparate there,' she answers, as if she was stating the obvious.

'Isn't it dangerous?' you ask, looking at her very big tummy.

'Aunt Hermione said it's safe,' she says, and you feel relaxed, because if Aunt Hermione says it's safe, it means it's really safe.

You Apparate at St. Mungo's and, while you are talking to a nurse, Victoire hastily tells you to send a Patronus to her family and you almost say that it's six in the morning, but then you remember that they are the Weasleys, after all, and you obey her.

She is placed in a room and while you are sending a Patronus to your Grandmother, you see the Weasley Army Apparating, and a part of you wants to run away and the other part is very happy, so happy that you almost tear up, but you don't, because, for Merlin's sake, you are a man now, and not a tiny and insecure nine-year-old.

Without even saying hello they hug you, they talk at the same time, they cry and they laugh, they ruffle your hair, they ask you loads of questions and you just stare at them, with a stupid smile on your face. There are Bill and Fleur, who are still Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur for you, even though you have stopped calling them that way after you married Victoire because it would be a bit strange, and there are Molly and Arthur, who will be great grandparents very soon but don't seem that impressed, and Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey, Uncle George and Aunt Angelina, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and then there are Harry and Ginny (you've never called them Uncle and Aunt, they've always been Harry and Ginny to you) and Harry looks so touched, he has tears in his eyes and you would like to tell him something, and you don't know what. And then there are all Victoire's cousins, who are definitely too many, and they are all over-excited.

For the whole day you stay in St Mungo's, you spend some time with Victoire, who isn't enough dilated yet, as the Healer says, and you can't help seeing Bill casting a strange glance at you, as if it is your entire fault that Victoire is lying in that bed. And they all want to spend time with Victoire and they all seem to forget that that the baby who is on his way is your baby as well, and you find yourself alone in the corridor, and a part of you is really angry, but the other part is quite confused.

And, then, during that long day, the longest of your life, you find the time to talk with everyone. To discuss Disaparation and pregnancy with Aunt Hermione, to talk with Ginny of Quidditch, to tease Uncle Ron about Rose and Scorpius, to ask Arthur how he had managed to get through six pregnancies, to talk with George about his shop, to give some suggestions to Lily for her upcoming NEWTs.

You talk with everyone and you feel like you're drunk, you ask the questions that you have never dared to ask, you ask Uncle George and Aunt Angelina about Fred (not their son, obviously), you ask Bill about the time Greyback bit him, you ask Molly about your mother, you ask Uncle Ron if it's true that in the middle of the war he left Aunt Hermione and Harry, you ask James, Lily and Fred if it's not hard sometimes to be named after someone brave and dead and to see your name on the War Memorial, you ask Harry about the Dursleys, and the strangest thing of all is that nobody seems upset or thunderstruck but they all answer to your questions with detailed answers and you wonder what's going on, as the day lazily rolls by, and then the Healer stops by and tells you that nothing will happen till the next morning, and they all start to leave, and Harry gives you a special look, the very same look he gave you when you were a child and you were upset or sad, the everything-is-going-to-be-okay look, the one that has always made you feel fine, and you feel the urge to thank Harry, but you don't, because you know he knows, and you ask Molly to tell Andromeda that nothing has happened yet, and you whisper into James's ear that you want him to be the godfather, and James looks startled and you look startled as well, because you haven't really discussed this with Victoire, but it seems so natural, so obvious and you don't worry.

Suddenly they're all gone, and they leave you alone in the corridor, and you sit on a chair and try to read a magazine, but you can't, because you are thinking of so many things, of Harry, of the Weasleys, of your Grandma, of your father and of your mother and you fall asleep and you dream of them, you see their eyes, you see their smiles, they tell you that they are sorry that they have left you and you answer that they should not worry, that they have done the right thing, that you are happy and they smile, and then someone touches your shoulder.

You look up and you see a Healer, who tells you that Victoire is delivering the baby and you jump from your chair and you enter the room, and Victoire is sweating and crying and she grabs your hand and she tries to break it and you are incredibly happy and scared at the same time, and you didn't know that you could actually feel these two feelings at the same time, but you do.

And then, the Healer says that he can see the head, and you are so damn excited, and you scream to Victoire that she is doing great, that she is fantastic, and Victoire laughs and cries, and then, finally, the baby is out and the Healer declares, 'It's a boy.'

'It's a boy,' you repeat ecstatically, and you look at the little bundle that the Healer places into Victoire's arms, and he is so beautiful and Victoire says he is perfect and you would like to say that you agree, but you can't because you are crying and Victoire is crying as well and, very confusedly, you think that if you died tonight it wouldn't really matter because you are so happy, but you don't want to die, you want to live, and that's what you say, 'I won't die,' and Victoire laughs and cries and says, 'No, you won't,', and you both stare at the baby.

'Remus Lupin,' Victoire says and you can't understand why she is saying your father's name.

'What?' you ask.

'His name is Remus,' she says and you hate her because she makes you weep again and you had just stopped but you really can't help crying, because it's such a perfect name, and then you remember something important.

'Remus Harry Lupin,' you say, and Victoire smiles and nods, and then the Healer takes the baby and asks you to leave.

You are left alone in the corridor. You are alone, but you can see your parents, your Grandmother, Harry and Ginny, all the Weasleys, and they are not really there but somehow they are, and you make a pirouette and you fall down and you laugh on your own, and you think that life is wonderful, and you know that Remus and Dora Lupin are dancing somewhere in the sky and that they are looking at you, and you know that Harry is in his bed and soon will come and hug you, and you know that Victoire is inside that room with Remus Harry Lupin, your son, and for the first time of your life you are happy, really happy, you don't feel bad because your parents are dead, you don't feel alone, you are not angry or upset, you are just happy, happy, happy.


End file.
